Aithne gave him a playful shove. "Cheeky! You're impossible. I've always said so."

He nodded, mock-soberly. "I know. I've heard it enough times..." Then, as something of a gesture of peace, he supposed, she leaned close, laying her head on his shoulder. "But as impossible as you are, I'm glad you're here."

She breathed one of those contented sighs he'd come to know and love in the past week. It was as though she'd been on alert constantly, never sleeping, for who knew how long, and now that he had arrived, she was allowing herself to rest and relax. She had gone so far as falling asleep in his arms more than once of late. He doubted even she had known how tired she was. Shifting, he pulled her into his lap, where she curled like a kitten in his arms- right down to the soft, quiet purring.

Suddenly she twitched, drawing him out of his thoughts quickly. Alarmed, he looked to Cu, who had followed his mistress inside. But the dog was lying down at their feet, a picture of peacefulness. He breathed a sigh of relief and kissed the top of her head. She was drifting off already- he could feel her becoming more heavy in his lap. But there was a cozy feeling in having her there, and he counted the pins-and-needles legs he would have later as a small price to pay.